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arXiv:2110.11797 · IEEE Transactions on Communications

Flexible Physical Layer Security for Joint Data and Pilots in Future Wireless Networks

Salah Eddine Zegrar, Haji Muhammad Furqan, Hüseyin Arslan

Published Feb 14, 2022• 14 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

In this work, novel physical layer security (PLS) schemes are proposed for orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) to secure both data and pilots in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. The majority of previous studies focus on only securing the data without considering the security of the pilots used for channel estimation. However, the leakage of channel state information (CSI) from a legitimate node to an eavesdropper allows the latter to acquire knowledge about the channel of the legitimate nodes. To this end, we propose adaptive and flexible PLS algorithms which can 1) secure data, 2) secure pilots, and 3) jointly secure both data and pilots. Particularly, minimum-phase all-pass channel decomposition is exploited, where the proposed algorithms use the all-pass component to provide security without harming the performance of the legitimate user. In the analysis for data security, we evaluate the secrecy under correlated and uncorrelated eavesdropping channels via closed-form bit error rate (BER) formulas. For pilot security, we analyze the estimated channel’s normalized mean squared error (NMSE) performance. The simulation results and theoretical analysis demonstrate that the proposed algorithms can effectively enhance the communication secrecy of the overall system.

DOI
10.1109/tcomm.2022.3151341

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IEEE/CIC International Conference on Communications in China (ICCC)•Aug 9, 2020•1 citation
In this work, novel physical layer security (PLS) schemes are proposed for orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) to secure both data and pilots in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. The majority of previous studies focus on only securing the data without considering the security of the pilots used for channel estimation. However, the leakage of channel state information (CSI) from a legitimate node to an eavesdropper allows the latter to acquire knowledge about the channel of the legitimate nodes. To this end, we propose adaptive and flexible PLS algorithms which can 1) secure data, 2) secure pilots, and 3) jointly secure both data and pilots. Particularly, minimum-phase all-pass channel decomposition is exploited, where the proposed algorithms use the all-pass component to provide security without harming the performance of the legitimate user. In the analysis for data security, we evaluate the secrecy under correlated and uncorrelated eavesdropping channels via closed-form bit error rate (BER) formulas. For pilot security, we analyze the estimated channel’s normalized mean squared error (NMSE) performance. The simulation results and theoretical analysis demonstrate that the proposed algorithms can effectively enhance the communication secrecy of the overall system.
In recent years, physical layer security (PLS) has emerged as a promising concept to complement cryptography solutions. Many PLS schemes require perfect knowledge of the channel state information (CSI) at the transmitter. However, in practical cases, CSI is often imperfect due to channel estimation errors, noisy feedback channels and outdated CSI. In this paper, we study the impact of imperfect CSI on an adaptive PLS scheme that combines diversity with interleaving to provide security. Particularly, we derive the secrecy capacity expressions for the legitimate receiver and the eavesdropper's channels under imperfect CSI conditions. Numerical and theoretical simulations for secrecy capacity and bit error rate (BER) are carried out for the frequency-selective Rayleigh fading wiretap channel model. The results reveal the negative impact of imperfect CSI on the secrecy and BER performance of the single input single output (SISO) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system. The analysis is done under both frequency division duplex (FDD) and time division duplex (TDD) modes.
Physical layer security (PLS) is an approach that provides secrecy based on information-theoretic model which does not account for any computation capability assumption or pre-installed standardized secret key generation algorithm and it is a good additional protection on the top of the existing security scheme. This work includes four different topics which are about improving PLS with full-duplex radio. In the first topic, we develop a fast algorithms for computing power allocations in subcarriers, subject to power and rate constraints, to maximize the secrecy capacity of a three-node network consisting of a source, a full-duplex capable destination and an eavesdropper. The optimal power allocation at the destination is found to be significant especially when its power budget is high. The second topic is about the analysis of a two-phase scheme for secret information transmission with the technique of anti-eavesdropping channel estimation (ANECE), which requires full duplex transceiver and it can better handle Eve with any number of antennas. The analysis is based on the assumption that everyone has a prior statistical knowledge of the channel state information (CSI) anywhere and it yields lower and upper bounds on secure degrees of freedom as functions of the number of antennas on Eve and the size of information packet. For the third topic, we present optimal designs of the pilots for ANECE based on two criteria. The first is to optimize the minimum mean squared error (MMSE) channel estimation for the users, and the second is to maximize the mutual information between the pilot-driven signals observed by the users. Closed-form optimal pilots are shown under both criteria but subject to a symmetric and isotropic condition. Algorithms for computing the optimal pilots are shown for general cases. In the fourth topic, we analyze the secure degree of freedom and the asymptotic expression of the achievable secret key rate from a two-phase key generation scheme which consists of channel training phase and secure information transmission phase. Based on the asymptotic form, we develop an effective algorithm for coherence time allocation between the two phases to maximize the achievable secret key rate.
In this paper, we investigate a physical layer security technique in an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) based wireless communications. In an OFDM system, the legitimate transmitter (Alice) can increase secrecy capacity with proper power allocation and/or bit loading methods for example by maximizing mutual information for own communication, i.e. between Alice and the legitimate receiver (Bob). The reason of increasing secrecy capacity is that the power allocation is suitable for the channel state between Alice and Bob but not suitable for the channel state between Alice and the eavesdropper (Eve). In this paper, we investigate a new approach where dummy data is exploited to achieve further improvement of secrecy capacity. Specifically, real data and dummy data are implemented in transmit OFDM symbols and secure pilot signals are employed to inform the receiver about their respective locations. Two secure pilot signal designs are introduced and in both of them it is designed that Bob can easily detect correct real data locations but not for Eve. One of them uses fake pilot signals that cause Eve to mistakenly select dummy data as real data. Numerical results will show that secrecy capacity performance of the first secure pilot signal based secure communication (not using fake signal) is slightly less than the performance of water filling algorithm. One significant advantage of the first secure pilot signal based secure communication is that the computational cost should be significantly less than the water filling algorithm. In addition, we will show that fake pilot signal based secure communication can provide significant gain in secrecy capacity while the computational cost is still small.
Physical layer security (PLS) is an emerging paradigm that makes use of wireless channel characteristics to provide security. Many PLS schemes require knowledge of the channel state information (CSI). However, CSI is usually imperfect due to factors such as noisy feedback channels, channel estimation errors and outdated CSI. In this paper, we investigate the impact of imperfect CSI on the secrecy and error rate performances of a PLS scheme that combines adaptive matched-filter (MF) precoding and diversity in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). Particularly, we derive the secrecy capacity and error rate expressions for the legitimate and eavesdropper's channels under imperfect CSI assumption. The impact of the imperfect CSI is studied via theoretical as well as numerical techniques in frequency-selective Rayleigh fading wiretap channel. The analysis is done in both frequency division duplex (FDD) and time division duplex (TDD) modes.
In physical-layer security, secret bits are extracted from wireless channels. With the assumption of channel reciprocity, the legitimate users share the same channel which is independent of the channels between the legitimate users and the eavesdropper, leading to secure transmissions. However, practical implementation of the physical layer security faces many challenges. First, for the correlated channel such as the multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) channel, the security is decreased due to the correlation between the generated secret bits. Second, the nearby eavesdropper posts a security threat due to observing the same channel as the legitimate user's. Third, the eavesdroppers might try to reconstruct the wireless environments. In this paper, we propose two practical physical layer security schemes for the MIMO orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) systems: the precoding matrix index (PMI)-based secret key generation with rotation matrix (MOPRO) and the channel quantization-based (MOCHA) scheme. The former utilizes PMI and rotated reference signals to prevent the eavesdroppers from learning the secret key information and the latter applies channel quantization in order to extract more secret key bits. It is shown that not only the secure communication but also the MIMO gain can be guaranteed by using the proposed schemes.
In this paper, the physical layer security (PLS) issue is studied for frequency-division duplex (FDD) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) media-based modulation (MBM) systems with a multiple-antenna eavesdropper. A more practical scenario is considered that only the statistic channel state information (CSI) of the eavesdropping link is available and the imperfect CSI of the legitimate link is acquired by analog feedback. Based on these imperfect CSI, an artificial-noised-aided precoding scheme is proposed, and an effective achievable ergodic secrecy rate (ESR) is derived when taking into account the feedback overhead. The secrecy performance of the proposed scheme is evaluated through simulations in terms of ESR and bit error rate (BER). The influences of the key parameters such as the power allocation ratio and the feedback duration are also discussed.